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RECAP 


INEBRIETY    A     DISEASE. 


PRESIDENT'S  ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS 

Delivered  before  the  American  Association  for  the  Cure  of  Inebriates, 
at  Chicago,   Illinois,   September  13,    1877, 


THEODORE    L.    MASON.    M.    D.. 


BROOKLYN,  NEW  YORK. 


CoQese  of  ^i)psitctang  anb  burgeons! 
Htbrarp 


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INEBRIETY  A  DISEASE, 


PRESIDENTS 

Anniversary  Address 

Delivered  befoi-e  the  Amerkan  Association  for  the  Cure  of 
Itiebriates^  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  S£ptember  13,  1877. 

THEODORE    L.    MASON,    M.  D., 

OF 

BROOKLYN,    NEW  YORK, 

ArSO 

President  of  the  Inebriates'  Home,  Fort  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 


FORT    HAMILTON: 

Pkintkd  at  the  Inebriates'  Home  foe  Kings  County. 

1878. 


IINEBRIETY     A    DISEASE. 

'^ 

President's  Anniversary  Address  delivered  before  the  Annerican  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Cure  of  Inebriates,  at  Chicago,  Illinois, 

s  E  :e=>  T  E  nvE  ::b  E!  .E=i.     iscio.,     lavv, 

BT 

OF 
BROOKLYN,    NEW    YORK, 


Mr.  Vice-Preside7it,  and  Members  of  the  Association': 

In  the  year  1870,  the  Presidents,  Physicians 
and  Superintendents  of  several  of  the  Inebriate  Asylums  in 
these  United  States  met  in  the  City  of  J^Tew  York  and  or- 
ganized the  Ameeicaj^  Association  fob  the  Cure  of  Ine- 
briates. 

The  objects  of  the  Association,  as  set  forth  in  the  Plan  of 
Organization  adopted  by  them,  were  "to  study  the  disease 
of  inebriety,  to  discuss  its  proper  treatment,  and  to  endeavor 
to  bring  about  a  cooperative  public  sentiment  and  jurispru- 
dence."    (Art.  3,  Plan  of  Organization.) 

In  the  progress  of  the  meeting,  a  "  Preamble  and  Declar- 
ation of  Principles''  were  unanimously  adopted,  in  which 
these  postulates  were  enunciated:  1st,  "Intemperance  is  a 
disease,''''  and  2d,  "  It  is  curable  in  the  same  sense  as  other 
diseases  are  curable." 

This  Association  further  committed  itself  deliberately  and 
unanimously  to  the  theory  that,  in  certain  cases,  inebriety  is 


a  disease  of  a  spcci/tl  form,  peculiarly  induced  and  requiring 
special  treatment  in  hospitals  adapted  and  devoted  exclusively 
to  its  cure.  Have  subsequent  investigations  in  our  oavu  and 
other  countries  served  to  coniirm  its  nierabers  in  these  posi- 
tions, or  to  show  tliem  tliat  tliey  were  mistaken  ? 

Tlie  first  of  tliese  ''principles,"  viz:  "That  Inebriety  is  a 
diseiise,''''  is  the  great  fundamental  principle  upon  which  the 
oldest,  best  establislied,  best  known  and  most  successful  In- 
ebriate Asylums  in  this  country  are  based.  The  correctness 
of  this  principle  has  however,  in  a  few  instances,  been  de- 
nied. I  propose  in  this  paper  to  inquire — WJiat  hicbric/y  is. 
Is  it,  as  some  persons  affirm,  always  a  Vice  merely ;  or  is  it 
also  a  Disease  ?  May  it  not  be  in  certain  circumstances  one 
of  these — a  Vice,  and  in  other  circumstances — a  Disease  ? 

The  decision  of  this  cpiestion  manifestly  must  depend  upon 
the  amount  and  reliability  of  the  testimony  which  can  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  it.  It  is  my  purpose,  on  the  present 
occasion,  to  summarize  a  portion  of  such  testimony,  and  to 
distriljute  it  in  accordance  with  its  relation  to  the  following 
points: 

1st.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  action  of  Alcohol  upon  the 
human  system  ? 

2d.  Does  Alcohol  cause  acute  and  chronic  constitutional 
disease  in  tlie  persons  habitually  using  it  ? 

3d.  Is  the  Diseased  Constitution  thus  caused  transmissible 
to  the  offspring  of  the  drinker  ? 

4th.  Is  there  evidence  tijat  family  and  national  character 
and  constitution  may  be  degraded  by  the  general  use  of 
Alcohol  ? 

And  5t]i  and  last — Are  these  evils  thus  caused  remedia- 
1)1  e  ?  and  how  ? 

In  doing  this  it  is  my  [)urpose  to  use  in  tlieir  own  words 
the  statements  wliich  some  of  the  best  tliinkers  of  our  own 
day,  and  best  informed  on  this  subject,  have  placed  on  re- 
cord and  wliich  must  be  accepted  as  the  most  authoritative, 


as  tliey  constitute  the  most  fully  established  and  reliahle  tes- 
timony which  is  accessible  on  the  subject. 

Before  proceeding  to  this,  however,  let  us  pause  a  moment 
and  endeavor  to  agree  upon  tlie  meanings  of  some  of  the 
terras  we  are  to  use. 

Vice. — "  A  bad  or  evil  course  of  action  ;  the  opposite  to 
virtue  ;  depravity ;  evil,"  &c. ;  generally  nsed  of  an  habitual 
fault. 

This  word  has  been  frequently  confounded  with  the  word 
Crime,  and  some  undesirable  confusion  has  been  the  conse- 
quence. The  word  crime  properly  refers  to  offence  against 
legal  enactments.  Yice,  in  its  first  signification,  means  a 
violation  of  the  pri?iciples  of  vrtue  ;  but  it  has  been  used  to 
imply  such  a  departure  from  the  requirements  of  man's  phys- 
ical nature  as  detracts  from  his  physical  welfare.  In  this 
sense  we  shall  use  it  in  this  discussion. 

Disease;  etymologically,  Dis-  (want  of)  ease — unqniet- 
ness,  distress.  In  Wvcliffe's  translation  of  the  Bible  (14th 
century)  it  is  used  thus:  "In  the  world  ye  shall  have  dis- 
ease," (John  16  :  33).  In  medicine  the  term  is  nsed  to  sig- 
nify— "Any  morbid  state  of  the  body  generally;  or  of  any 
particular  organ  or  part  of  the  body ;  any  derangement  of 
the  functions,  or  alteration  of  the  structure  of  the  animal 
organs." 

A  few  remarks  may  perhaps  not  improperly  be  here  pre- 
mised as  to  the  character  of  the  active  agent,  the  substance 
upon  the  use  of  which,  in  our  own  and  in  the  insular  and 
continental  countries  of  Europe,  Ixebriety  chiefly  depends — 
Alcohol,  in  some  of  its  varied  forms.  I  do  this  the  more 
readily  because  of  the  indefinite  and  modified  manner  in 
which  it  is  sometimes  spoken  of,  even  by  intelligent  phy- 
sicians. That  it  is  a  poison  all  admit.  But  immediately 
upon  this  admission  you  will  not  unfrequently  hear  this 
qualifying  remark:  "It  is  a  poison  when  taken  to  excess," 
or:  "It  is  good  for  the  stomach,  but  becomes  a  poison  when 


6 

its  effects  are  felt  in  the  head."  Now  this  betrays  a  con- 
fusion of  ideas,  a  lingering  tendency  to  hold  on  to  the  ex- 
ploded notions  of  the  past,  or  aii  ignorance  of  the  latest 
teachings  of  science,  for  which  we  might  lind  an  apology  in 
tlie  doctrine  of  the  jolly  monks  of  the  schoJa  salerniterna, 
wliose  maxim,  as  quoted  by  Duglinson,  was  "  Si  nocturna 
tibi  noccat  v'uii,^' — "  Hoc  tu  mane  hihes  iterum  et  fucrit 
mcdicuia,^^  but  neither  of  which  we  tliink  is,  at  this  late 
day,  worthy  of  intelligent  medical  men. 

We  do  not  talk  thus  about  arsenic,  opium,  atropine,  In- 
dian hemp,  or  prussic  acid,  or  any  other  vegetable  or  mineral 
poison.  All  of  these,  though  poisonous,  are  of  use,  and  have 
their  places  in  the  armameiita  mcdica — places  which  the  mod- 
ern practitioner  would  lind  it  difficult  to  Ull  were  they  re- 
moved. 

They  are  all  of  great  benefit  to  man  as  remedies  for  disease, 
but  tliey  are  nevertheless  indisputably  yoisonotis.  Just  so 
alcohol  has  its  use  in  the  treatment  of  disease,  but  it  is  a 
poison  to  the  normal  and  healthy  man.  '^o  intclh'gent  person 
would  say  "a  little  arsenic,  or  a  little  opium,  or  a  little  In- 
dian hemp,  or  aconite,  or  atropine  or  prussic  acid  is  a  nutri- 
ment, and  is  of  benefit  to  man  in  health  and  should  be  taken 
daily  and  regularly;  but  a  little  too  mucli  is  a  poison.^'' 

Why  then  suffer  ourselves  to  think  or  speak  thus  of  alco- 
hol ?  No,  alcohol  is  never  a  nutriment,  nor  fit  for  dailij  use. 
Alcohol  is  a  poison,  inherently,  absolutely,  essentially ;  in  a 
drop  or  in  a  gill,  in  a  pint  or  in  a  gallon,  in  all  quantities 
and  in  every  quantity  it  is  a  ])oison.  Plainly  tlie  quantity 
cannot  alter  its  chemical  constitution.  The  chemical  for- 
mula,  C  H  no,   expresses   the   relative  proportion   of  the 

3        5 

constituents,  in  a  teaspoonful  or  a  gallon,  oi  ethijlic,  deiitilic, 
or  common  alcoliol;  and  Chistison  and  many  other  authori- 
ties in  materia  mediea  have  assigned  its  place  amongst  them 
as  a  Tiarcotico/-irritant  poison. 

AlcohfA  is  supposed  to  have  been  discovered  in  the  11th 


century  of  our  era,  by  an  Arabian  alchemist,  Ca&a  or  Albu- 
casis,  a  distinguished  professor  of  the  mystic  art,  whose 
adepts  were  popularly  supposed  to  be  helped  in  their  discov- 
eries by  the  Devil,  the  great  enemy  of  man  from  the  begin- 
ning ;  and,  verily,  were  I  to  judge  from  the  results  alone  of 
this  discovery,  I  should  be  strongly  inclined  to  the  popular 
belief;  for  surely  I  speak  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness 
when  I  declare  that,  since  the  transgression  of  our  first  pa- 
rents "brought  sin  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe,"  no  single 
discovery  of  man,  in  his  persistent  "seeking  out  of  many  in- 
ventions," has  been,  fraught  with  such  dire  results  to  the 
moral  and  physical  well-being  of  our  race. 

These,  I  am  aware,  are  "  brave  words ;"  and  those  who 
doubt,  if  there  be  any  present,  have  a  just  claim  for  proof  of 
their  correctness.  Of  written  opinions  on  this  point  there 
is  no  lack.  For  years  the  temperance  press  has  teemed  with 
tractates  on  the  subject,  filled  with  the  eloquence  of  truth, 
and  convincing  by  the  power  of  a  heartfelt  sympathy.  I  do 
not  propose,  however,  to  avail  myself  of  aid  of  this  descrip- 
tion, but  rather  to  use  such  as  a  strictly  scientific  and  profes- 
sional study  has  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  earnest  inves- 
tigator. In  attempting  this,  I  shall  draw  freely  from  the 
"  Cantor  Lectures"  of  Dr.  B.  W.  Kichardson,  F.  R.  0.  P., 
published  a  year  or  two  since  in  the  'Journal  of  the  Society 
of  Arts.'  inasmuch  as  they  seem  to  me  to  approach  more 
nearly  than  any  other  to  the  latest  conclusions  of  scientific 
investigation,  and  to  be  distinguished  by  the  calm  and  philo- 
sophic spirit  which  marks  and  dignifies  the  impartial  seeker 
after  truth. 

We  have  asserted  that  alcohol  is  a  poisDn.  A  reliable 
authority  defines  a  poison  to  be  "any  substance  which,  if  in- 
troduced into  the  animal  economy,  disturbs,  suspends,  or 
destroys  some  or  all  of  the  vital  functions,"  or  organs.  Let 
us  see  how  perfectly  alcohol  fulfils  these  conditions. 

The  experiments  of  this  distinguished  scientist,  Dr.  R.,  on 


tlie  lower  animals  have  plainly  &liown  that  the  lightest  and 
purest  of  these  alcohols,  methijlic  alcohol  or  wood-spirits,  is 
poisox  and  will  cause  deatli.  Of  the  common,  or  etJtylic 
alcohol  he  saj^s:  "Taken  into  tlie  stomach  in  the  diluted 
state  in  which  it  is  ordinarily  used,  as  in  whiskey,  brandy, 
gin,  wine,  &c.,  it  exerts  its  poisonous  influences  first  on  the 
stomach — ^influenctes  so  remarkable  and  so  readily  observable 
during  life,  (as  in  the  case  of  St.  Martin,  reported  by  Beau- 
mont, and  in  a  recent  similar  case  noticed  in  a  Paris  jour- 
nal,) and  which  leav^e  such  destructive  traces  in  the  dead 
body  in  the  results  of  inflammation,  thickening,  ulcerations, 
and  spliacelation,  that  they  have  long  since  attracted  the  at- 
tention and  scrutiny  of  physiologists  and  pathologists  alike. 
It  next  passes  into  the  blood  (in  part  certainly,  and  in  form, 
by  endosmosis,)  and  attacks  the  I'ed  globules,  destroying  their 
forms  by  the  abstraction  of  water,  making  their  smooth  outer 
edge  crenated  or  even  starlike,  or  chauQ-ino;  their  round  into 
an  oval  shape,  disposes  them  to  run  too  closely  together  and 
to  adhere  in  rolls,  causes  an  aggregation  of  rolls  into  masses, 
and  thus  impairs  the  ease  with  which  they  pass  through  the 
vessels  of  the  luno-s  and  of  the  o'eneral  circulation.    The  next 

CI  O 

direct  action  is  upon  the  fi  brine  or  plastic  colloid  matter, 
damaging  its  healthy  condition.  Soon  the  deleterious  influ- 
ence extends  to  the  minute  blood  vessels  and  diminishes 
their  contractility,  thus  causing  them  to  become  preternatu- 
rally  distended  with  red  globules,  a  part  of  the  blood  not  to 
be  found  in  them  permanently  in  health. 

"  Conne(;ted  with  this  condition  is  the  flushing  of  the  face  ; 
and  if  tlie  lungs  conld  be  seen  their  vessels  would  be  found 
injected  in  like  manner.  This  is  also  true  of  the  brain 
and  spinal  cord,  of  the  stomach,  liver,  spleen,  kidneys,  and 
all  the  otlicr  vascular  organs  of  tlie  body. 

"The  action  of  alcohol  does  not  stop  here.  The  disturb- 
ance extends  to  the  heart,  whose  action  is  quickened  and 
rendered  more  forcible  for  a  time,  but  flasfs  at  last  for  want 


of  more  alcohol  to  stimnlate  it,  and  falls  below  its  normal 
frequency  and  force.  This  being  supplied,  or  the  quantity 
originally  taken  being  sufficient  to  continue  its  action  beyond 
the  first  stage,  the  function  of  the  spinal  cord  is  influenced, 
the  nervous  control  of  the  co-ordinating  muscles  is  diminished 
or  lost,  and  the  contractile  power  of  the  muscles  themselves 
fails. 

"  In  a  yet  further  degree  of  intoxication  the  brain  centers 
are  affected ;  the  reason  is  now  off  duty,  and  the  mere  animal 
instincts  are  laid  atrociously  bare.  Finally,  the  action  of  the 
alcoliol  still  extending,  the  superior  cerebral  structures  are 
overpowered,  the  sense;i  fail,  the  voluntary  muscular  prostra- 
tion is  perfected,  and  the  man  lies  a  mere  log.  Tlie  heart 
alone  just  lives  and  feeds  the  breathing  power,  and  keeps 
the  mass  within  the  domain  of  life,  until  the  poison  begins 
to  pass  away,  the  nervous  centers  revive  again,  and  the  pa- 
tient lives  to  die  another  day.  Thus  there  are  four  stages 
of  alcoholic  poisoning  in  the  jprimary  or  acute  form  : 

"  A.  A  stage  of  vascular  excitement  and  exhaustion. 

"5.  A  stage  of  excitement  and  exhaustion  of  the  spinal 
cord,  with  muscidar  perturbation. 

"  C.  A  stage  of  unbalanced  reasoning  powers  and  of  voli- 
tion. 

"  1>.  A  stage  of  complete  collapse  of  nervous  functions." 

Of  tlie  Secondary  Physiological  effects  of  simple  or  ethylic 
alcohol  (the  least  poisonous,  with  one  exception,  of  the  eleven 
varieties  of  which  he  gives  a  tabulary  description,)  Dr.  R. 
remarks:  "As  a  cause  of  disease,  it  gives  origin  to  a  great 
population  of  afflicted  persons,  many  of  whom  suffer  even 
death,  without  themselves  suspecting  from  what  they  suffer, 
and  unsuspected  by  others.  Amongst  them  are  alcoholic 
dyspepsia,  alcoholic  insomnia,  organic  deterioration,  special 
structural  deterioration,  alcoholic  disease  of  the  heart,  alco- 
holic consumption,  organic  nervous  lesions,  loss  of  memory 
or  speech,  dipsomania,  and  mania,  a  potu. 


10 

"To  us  physiologists,'^  he  adds,  "tliese  maniacs  a,  pofu  are 
men  under  the  influence  of  alcohol,  with  certain  of  their 
brain  centers  paralysed,  and  with  a  broken  balance,  there- 
fore, of  brain  power,  which  we  with  infinite  labor  and  much 
exactitude  have  learned  to  understand." 

Is  Alcohol  Food  ?  Concerning  this  question,  which  has 
been  much  and  earnestly  discussed  of  late,  and  in  favor  of 
which  the  most  that  has  been  claimed  by  the  supporters  of 
the  affirmative  answer  is  that  perhaps  one  and  a  lialf  ounces 
might  be  taken  daily  A%nthout  injury,  possibly  with  advantage, 
by  an  individual  in  ordinary  health,  Dr.  K.  thus  speaks: 
"  Xature  lias  prepared  for  man  two  fluids — water  and  milk — 
and  tliey  are  all  that  is  essential.  When  we  inquire  into  the 
physiological  construction  of  man,  or  the  lower  animals,  we 
can  discover  no  necessity  for  any  other  fluid.  The  mass  of 
the  blood  is  water,  the  mass  of  the  nervous  system  is  water, 
the  mass  of  all  the  active  vital  organs  is  water,  the  secretions 
are  watery  fluids,  and  if  into  any  of  them  any  other  agent 
than  water  is  introduced,  the  result  is  instant  and  injurious 
disturbance  of  function.  Alcohol  cannot,  by  any  ingenuity  of 
excuse  for  it,  be  classed  among  the  foods  of  man.  It  neither 
supplies  matter  for  Construction  nor  Heat.  It  is  not,  there- 
for, fit  for  Drink,  nor  is  it  Food." 

It  is  not  necessary  for  my  purpose  to  dwell  longer  on  this 
phase  of  the  subject,  and  I  will  therefor  dismiss  it  with  a 
short  quotation  from  the  writer  I  have  so  freely  used:  "In 
conclusion,  therefore,  on  this  one  point  of  alcohol,  its  use  as 
a  builder  of  tlie  substantial  parts  of  the  animal  organism,  I 
fear  I  must  give  up  all  hope  of  affirmative  proof.  It  does 
not  certainly  help  to  build  up  the  active  nitrogenous  struct- 
ures. It  probably  does  not  produce  fatty  matter,  except  by 
an  indirect  and  injurious  interference  with  the  natural  pro- 
cesses." "This  chemical  substance,  alcohol,  an  artificial 
product  devised  by  man  for  his  purposes,  and  in  many  tilings 
that  lie  outside  of  his  organism  a  useful  substance,  is  neither 


11 


a  FOOD  nor  a  drink  suitable  for  his  natural  demands.  Its 
application  is  projDerlj  limited  by  the  learning  and  skill  pos- 
sessed by  tlie  physician — a  learning  that  itself  admits  of 
being  recast  and  revised  in  many  important  details  and  per- 
haps principles.  If  this  agent  does  really  for  the  moment 
cheer  the  weary  and  impart  a  flush  of  transient  pleasure  to 
the  unwearied  who  crave  for  mirth,  its  influence  (doubtful 
even  in  these  modest  and  moderate  degrees,)  is  an  infinitesi- 
mal advantage  by  the  side  of  an  injinity  of  evil  for  which 
there  is  no  compensation  and  no  human  cure." 

These  latter  despairing  words  I  trust  we  may  7iow  receive 
with  much  allowance.  A  cure  by  God's  help — we  will  not 
doubt,  if  not  already  discovered — may  yet  be  found. 

But  these  conclusions  on  this  most  important  subject, 
should  not  rest  upon  the  testimony  of  one  witness  only, 
however  impartial,  intelligent  or  competent  he  may  be. 
Scores  of  able,  well-informed  men  could  be  summoned  to 
testify  on  this  subject  and  their  evidence  would  fill  a  vol- 
ume, not  to  quote  the  more  than  seven  thousand  members  of 
the  British  Medical  Association,  the  hundreds  of  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  who  met  tliis  year  in  this  city.* 

The  report  made  before  the  section  of  medicine  of  the 
Centennial  Medical  Convention  in  Philadelphia,  in  1876, 
composed  of  representative  men  from  all  parts  of  this  coun- 
try and  from  Europe,  all,  substantially,  concur  in  this  one 
opinion  of  the  noxious  effects  of  alcohol  on  those  who  indulge 
in  its  habitual  use. 

To  this  testimony,  so  clear  and  full,  in  justice  to  our  own 
members  and  as  proof  ol  the  views  held  by  them  from  the 
organization  of  this  Association,  I  feel  constrained  to  add 
their  evidence.  In  a  report  of  Dr.  Earle,  of  the  Washing- 
tonian  Home,  of  Chicago,  I  find  this  description :  "  Alcoholic 
mania  is  the  term  we  apply  when,  with  impaired  mental  and 
physical  condition,  the  man  seems  to  have  lost  all  will-yower 

*  Chicago. 


12 

to  do  as  he  would.  He  would  do  right,  but  he  seems  to 
have  lost  tlie  power  to  do  it."  "  He  makes  the  best  of  reso- 
lutions, calls  the  Divine  Being  to  his  help,  but  at  the  first 
opportunity  falls.''  Is  there  no  disease  here  ?  Is  this  man 
in  a  normal,  healthy  condition  ?  "Delirium  tremens,"  he 
says,  "is  characterized  by  insomnia,  hallucinations  of  the 
special  senses,  low  delirium,  with  its  consequent  decreased 
mental  vigor,  and  with  increased  digestive  derangement." 
Does  no  disease  exist  in  this  case  ? 

Dr.  Day,  in  his  paper  on  'Inebriety  and  its  Cure,'  read 
before  the  Suffolk  District  Medical  Society,  in  December, 
1876,  propounds  this  question  :  "Is  there  satisfactory  proof 
of  the  existence  of  a  disease  called  Di23Somania  or  Oinoma- 
nia  ?  If  so,  can  it  be  cured  ?  I  give  an  unhesitating  answer 
in  the  affirmative  to  both  these  questions." 

We  cannot  follow  the  Doctor  in  his  expansion  of  these 
propositions,  but  will  quote  a  sentence  from  page  5th  of  his 
paper,  as  directly  bearing  on  the  point  we  are  considei'ing : 
"  This  condition  is  by  no  means  rare.  Many  such  cases  are 
reported  in  the  medical  journals  of  England,  France  .and 
Germany.  Men  of  experience  have  reported  similar  cases, 
and  certainly  more  tlian  one  hundred  have  come  under  my 
own  observation."  Is  such  a  person  a  responsible  being  ? 
Only  so  far  as  he  may  have  directly  or  indirectly  hrovght  this 
disease  upon  kimsdf.  Is  the  Doctor  describing  a  vice  or  a 
disease  ? 

In  his  paper  on  'ThePathologic-al  Influence  of  Alcohol,  or 
the  Nature  of  Inebriation,'  by  N.  S.  Davis,  M.  D.,  pul)lished 
ill  tlie  'Proceedings  of  the  first  meeting  of  this  Association, 
in  1870,'  in  answer  to  the  question:  "Is  Inebriation  really 
a  crime  (vice)  or  a  disease  ?"  and  stating  certain  conditions 
in  wliicli  to  become  inebriated  was  criminal,  he  says:  "But 
tliat  tlie  aj)petite  for  alcoholic  drinks  and  the  state  of  inebri- 
ation are  diseased  conditions  of  certain  organs  or  structures  is 


13 

snscepti])le  of  clearest  demonstration."  (See  p.  15,  Proceed- 
ings 1870,  also  p.  23,  on  Treatment,  &c.) 

Dr.  Wm.  C.  Wej,  in  liis  paper  entitled  'Inebriety  by  In- 
heritance,' read  before  this  Association  in  1871,  on  page 
28,  says:  "Inebriety  being  accepted  as  Vi, i)hy steal  disorder, 
*  *  *  it  becomes  ns  to  look  back  in  the  train  of  morbid 
phenomena  by  which  it  has  been  fostered  and  developed, 
and  endeavor  to  analyze  its  near  and  remote  causes.  Con- 
spicuously in  this  connection  comes  the  consideration  of 
inherited  tendevcy.''^ 

These  views  Dr.  Wey  reaffirmed  in  a  paper  entitled,  'A 
Medical  Aspect  of  Drunkenness,'  read  by  request  before  the 
Annual  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of  Central  New  York, 
7th  of  February,  1877,  and  published  at  the  desire  of  the 
Bishop  and  Clergy  of  the  Convention. 

Dr.  G-eo.  Burr,  of  Binghampton,  IST.  Y.,  Trustee  of  the  N. 
Y.  Inebriate  Asylum,  who  has  had  ample  opportunities  for 
the  study  of  this  aifection  and  has  assiduously  improved 
them — bringing  to  the  study  a  mind  unusually  logical  and 
observant — ^has  in  the  same  number  of  the  proceedings  a 
contribution  on  'The  Pathology  of  Inebriety,'  singularly 
clear,  original  and  convincing.  On  pages  57  and  58  he  has 
these  remarks : 

"Inebriety  makes  its  approach  as  other  diseases  make  theirs,  sometimes 
by  the  fault  of  the  individual  attacked,  and  at  other  times  from  causes  over 
which  he  has  no  control. 

"The  propensity  is  quite  often  hereditary,  and  transmitted  from  one  gen- 
eration to  another,  in  accordance  with  the  same  law  by  which  any  consti- 
tutional taint,  like  scrofula  or  tubercular  disease,  is  handed  down. 

"The  law  of  development  which,  from  the  germ,  fashions  and  matures 
an  individual,  and  by  which  it  is  made  to  resemble  its  prototype  or  parents, 
will  also  in  due  time  bring  forth  the  defects  which  may  have  existed  in  a 
previous  generation.  The  fact  is  a  familiar  one,  that  children  resemble 
their  parents  to  a  certain  extent  in  mental  characteristics,  disposition,  pecu- 
liarity of  constitution,  temperament  and  form.  They  are,  however,  not 
born  with  all  these  characteristics  present,  but  as  the  child  is  developed  into 
the  man,  they  one  after  the  other  make  their  appearance.  With  the  devel- 
opment of  consumption  under  this  law  we  are  all  familiar.     The  child  is 


14 


bom  •with  a  tuberculous  taint.  During  the  years  of  its  childhood  it  may 
be  well  and  sprightly,  may  keep  pace  in  growth  with  the  most  robust ;  but 
in  the  course  of  its  development  it  reaches  a  point  where  its  prototype  fell 
into  decay  and  died.     This  individual  will  do  the  same." 

In  an  article  in  the  Proceedings  of  1872,  Dr.  B.  announces 
the  following  propositions : 

"Upon  the  subject  of  Inebriety,  I  think  the  following  ma\^  be  regarded 
as  facts : 

"1.  That  it  is  a  disease  of  constitutional  character,  involving  the  entire 
organism  in  its  consequences. 

"2.  That  the  true  disease  is  the  morbid  craving  for  alcohol,  of  which  the 
act  of  drinking  is  but  an  effect. 

"3.  "Whatever  the  true  physiological  action  of  alimentation  maybe,  or 
in  whichever  system  of  neiTes  the  sensations  which  give  rise  to  hunger 
and  thirst  may  reside,  the  symptoms  of  inebrietj-  indicate  that  the  disease  is 
a  disordered  condition  of  this  function,  and  that  the  ordiuaiy  sensations  of 
appetite  for  food  and  drink  are  perverted  and  uncontrollable." 

The  opinions  of  Drs.  Par^ker  and  Parrish,  the  able  pion- 
eers in  the  study  of  this  sitbject,  afe  so  well  known  that  quo- 
tations from  their  writings  would  be  snpei'iluous  here.  Tes- 
timony in  support  of  these  views  is  in  fact  abundant ;  but  I 
will  summon  only  one  other  witness.  In  the  Proceedings 
of  1872,  pages  SS  and  54,  we  Und  these  statements: 

*  *  *  "I  knew  a  boy  who  could  not  bear  to  see  a  cut  finger  without 
becoming  sick,  and  yet  he  became  a  surgeon,  and  finally  performed  with 
success  one  of  the  boldest  of  all  surgical  opei'ations ;  but  it  was  done  under 
WHISKEY  C0UR.4.GE,  and  he  finally  ceased  to  practice  his  profession  because 
of  its  distastefulness.  Such  men  'necessarily'  become  drunkards,  and  re. 
quire  for  refonnation  not  only  a  change  of  habit,  but  of  busmess  also,  that 
their  peculiar  'nervous  organization'  may  not  be  disturbed  in  their  daily 
life. 

"Men  become  drunkards  fi"om  verj' different  causes,  and  require  very 
different  treatment  to  effect  a  cure.  The  case  of  the  regular  tippler  is,  as  a 
general  rule,  more  hopeful  than  that  of  one  who  for  a  long  period  has  no 
desire  for  drink,  and  then  ])ecomes  seized  with  an  'inordinate  passion,'  even 
before  he  has  tasted  it.  Some  men  are  constituted  with  a  perfect  command 
over  their  appetites,  lasting  thnjughout  life ;  some  lose  this  power  and  be- 
come drunkards  in  old  age;  some  have  an  'innate  fondness  for  liquor,' 
which  makes  them  run  on  to  intemperance  at  the  first  indulgence,  and  con- 
tinue the  habit  Avith  occasional  intermissions  throughout  life. 

"Other  subjects  of  iutemperance  are  the  unfortunate  possessors  of  'a 


15 


peculiar  neivous  organization  from  childhood  up,'  which  renders  them  lia- 
ble to  indescribable  attacks  of  agitation  of  'the  nervous  system,'  which  are 
at  first  under  the  control  of  alcohol,  but  require,  for  their  continued  sup- 
pression, larger  and  larger  potations,  until  the  amount  consumed  is  in  some 
cases  marvelously  great." 

These  last  extracts  are  from  the  Report  of  the  'Franklin 
Home,'  Philadelphia.     (Proceedings  1872.) 

The  testimony  which  i  have  thus  brought  before  you  is 
but  a  small  portion  of  what  is  accessible,  yet  I  trust  it  will 
h'e  deemed  sufBcient  to  establish  the  proposition  with  which 
I  commenced,  that  alcohol  is  a  jjoisoji,  producing  in  persons 
who  use  it  habitually  the  Disease  of  Inebriety — a  disease 
whose  forms  and  features  and  diagnostic  symptoms  are 
quite  well  understood.  This  is,  however,  but  a  small  portion 
of  the  evil.  Were  these  influences  confined  to  those  who 
accustom  themselves  to  the  daily  use  of  alcohol  in  some  of 
its  varied  forms,  the  damaging  results  would  be  greatly 
diminished.     But  this  is  far  from  the  fact. 

Heredity. — "In  referring  to  the  influence  of  alcohol," 
says  Prof.  Willard  Parker,  "lYe  must  not  omit  to  speak  of 
the  condition  of  the  ofispring  of  the  inebriate.  The  inherit- 
ance is  a  sad  one.  A  tendency  to  the  disease  of  the  parent  is 
induced  as  strong  if  not  stronger  than  that  of  consumption, 
cancer  or  gout.  The  tendency  referred  to  has  its  origin  in 
the  nervous  system.  The  unfortunate  children  of  the  ine- 
briate come  into  the  world  with  a  defective  organization 
of  the  nerves."     (See  Proceedings  1871.) 

In  view  of  the  vast  importance  of  this  relation  of  our 
subject,  I  ask  your  careful  and  patient  attention  whilst  1 
submit  to  you  a  brief  abstract  of  the  testimony  of  other  emi- 
nent medical  specialists  who,  in  1872,  were  examined  before 
a  select  committee  of  the  British  House  of  Commons  on 
"  Habitual  Drunkards,"  as  to  the  nature  of  the  disease  caused 
by  the  habitual  use  of  alcoholic  drinks,  not  onh'  in  the  indi- 
vidual DBiNKEK,  but  as  to  the  yet  more  appalling  nature  of  its 


16 


infl/fence  on  the  Descendants  of  Drunkards,  or  even  moderate 
drinkers. 

Dr.  James  Cricliton  Browne,  Superintendent  of  the  West 
Kiding  Asjlum,  at  Wakefield,  and  who  is  understood  to  be 
high  authority  in  his  specialty",  thus  sj^eaks  of  Dipsomania 
which,  lie  says,  "  consists  of  an  irresistible  craving  for  alcoliolic 
stinnihmts  occurring  very  frequently,  pei'iodically,  parox- 
ysniallv,  and  with  a  constant  liability  to  periodical  exacer- 
bation, when  tlie  craving  becomes  altogether  irresistible. 

"  It  is,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the  result  of  habitual 
drunkenness,  although  I  have  seen  it  produced  by  sunstroke 
and  by  other  causes.  1  recollect  the  case  of  a  gentleman 
perfectly  sober  who  had  dipsomania,  which  was  attributed  to 
taking  a  draught  of  water  on  a  hot  day,  which  caused  faint- 
ing and  was  succeeded  by  an  entire  change  of  charac^ter." 
In  answer  to  quesfcion  451 — '  This  distinction  you  \vould 
draw  between  disease  which  drives  men  to  drinking,  and 
drinking  which  produces  disease?'  he  says  :  "  Precisely  so  ; 
dipsomania  may  come  on  either  way."  Again  he  says : 
"Habitual  drunkenness  is  a  mce ;  dipsomania  is  a  disease.  I 
believe  that  in  a  case  of  habitual  drunkenness,  which  is  at 
first  voluntary,  the  vice  may  become  involuntary  and  a  dis- 
ease." "With  the  dipsomaniac  the  cause  is  a  vis  a  tergo ; 
witli  the  drunkard  it  is  a  vis  a  fronte.  The  dipsomaniac  is 
driven  into  a  debauch  by  an  irresistible  impulse ;  the  drunk- 
ard seeks  the  intoxicating  effects.  In  dipsomaniacs  it  (the 
attack)  comes  in  paroxysms,  is  liable  to  exacerbation,  and  is 
not  determined  by  opportunities."  The  Doctor  adds  this 
striking  remark:  "I  have  known  dipsomaniacs  who,  in  the 
intervals  between  tlie  attacks,  would  not  take  stimulants 
(even)  wlien  placed  before  them ;  but  a  drunkard,  on  the 
other  hand,  will  take  a  stimulant  when  (ever)  he  can  get  it. 
That  is  no  so  witli  a  di])Somaniac."  On  the  question  of 
Heredity,  Dr.  Browne  well  expressed  the  fac^t  when  he  said, 
"  A  drunkard  transmits  a  weak  nervous  system  to  liis  ofi- 
spring." 


17 

Dr.  Francis  Edimmd  Anstie,  a  physician  in  London,  Lec- 
turer in  Medicine  at  Westminster  Hospital,  practising  among 
the  higher  classes  and  meeting  the  lower  in  hospital  prac- 
tice, the  author  of  a  well-known  work  on  Oinomania,  seeing 
large  numbers  of  intemperate  persons,  recognizes  the  distinc- 
tion made  by  Dr.  Browne  between  the  frequent  drunkard 
and  the  man  who  has  drunk  liimself  into  a  state  of  per- 
fect want  of  resisting  power.  He  says  :  "  Should  say  that 
this  was  a  matter  of  degree ;  whereas  there  is  another  affec- 
tion separated  absolutely  as  a  matter  of  kind,  which  is  entirely 
paroxysmal,  and  which,  so  far  as  I  know,  never  occurs  ex- 
cept in  persons  of  a  certain  hereditary  conformation.  This 
disease,  first  called  Oinomania  by  a  Frenchman,  ♦  *  comes 
upon  men  at  intervals,  who  are  otherwise  not  inclined  to 
drink  at  all,  and  who,  between  their  times  of  drinking,  are 
perfectly  free  from  any  tendency  to  drink  whatever.  These 
persons  are  the  children  of  families,  invariably,  or  almost  in. 
variably,  in  which  insanity  is  hereditary.  Yery  often  drink- 
ing has  been  hereditary  in  a  marked  manner.  I  believe  that 
drinking  in  this  *  *  case  is  the  result  of  disease.  *  *  * 
A  man  begins  to  drink  when  he  is  altogether  in  an  abnormal 
state.  It  is  a  mere  variety  of  hereditary  insanity."  He 
adds,  in  answer  to  question  571 :  "Where  drinking  has  been 
strong  in  both  parents,  I  think  it  is  a  physical  certainty  that 
it  will  be  traced  in  the  children." 

Again:  "I  have  no  doubt  that  many  persons  who  were 
never  drunk — parents  in  the  old  port-wine  drinking  period — 
have  transmitted  very  unstable  nervous  systems  to  their 
children,"  "  Then,  to  a  certain  extent,  you  endorse  the  Aris- 
totelian maxim,  that  'drunken  parents  beget  drunken  chil- 
dren?' "     "No  question  of  it." 

Dr.  Anstie  knew  a  manufacturer — a  man  in  a  good  posi- 
tion, and  one  of  the  cleverest  business  men  he  ever  knew — 
who  always  lived  a  chaste,  sober  life,  except  when  the  fit 
was  npon  him.     Then  he  went  to  the  nearest  public  house, 


IB" 

consorted  witli  loose  women,  shut  himself  up  in  a  back 
parlor,  and  drank  bi*andy  with  them  for  six  weeks,  close 
to  the  village  where  he  was  an  ivnportant  man  and  well 
known. 

Dr.  Bree^  a  magistrate  and  practitioner  of  forty  years 
standing,  in  his  testimony  says :  "  I  have  no  doubt  that  a 
drunken  man  never  has  healthy  children ;  that,  I  believe,  is 
an  established  axiom."  Again:  "A  man  is  not  able  to  pro- 
create healthy  children,  who  is  in  a  constant  state  of  drunk- 
enness.    It  is  physiologically  impossible." 

Dr.  Forbes  Winslow  (of  large  experience  for  thirty  years) 
says :  "  I  think  alcohol  should  be  dealt  with  as  a  source  of 
both  moral  and  physical  degeneration.  The  human  race  is, 
I  believe,  morally,  mentally  and  socially  deteriorated  by  that 
poison.  Drunkards  have  dmnken  children.  I  was  looking 
at  a  list  of  criminals  the  other  day ;  there  was  a  father  a 
drunkard  and  a  grandfather  a  drunkard  and  a  grandmother 
an  idiot  in  that  family.  In  the  whole  line  they  were  drunk- 
ards, they  were  criminals,  they  were  idiots;  all  the  forms  of 
vice  were  hereditarily  transmitted." 

Dr.  A.  Mitchell  says :  "-I  think  it  quite  certain  that  the 
children  of  habitual  drunkards  are,  in  a  large  proportion,  idi- 
otic ;  and,  in  a  larger  proportion,  themselves  drunkards  than 
other  children.  Many  habitual  drunkards  are  also  strongly 
predisposed  to  insanity ;  tiie  habitual  drinking  in  them  is 
just  the  shape  that  insanity  takes.  What  they  transmit 
to  their  children  is  really  that  predispositioji  which  they  have 
themselves. 

"Delirium  Tremens,  the  disease  of  constant  tipplers,  is 
not  necessarily  produced  by  constant  intoxication.  Mania. 
a  potu  is  not  intoxication,  but  comes  on  as  intoxication  is 
passing  oif.  It  may  occur  in  a  man  never  drunk  before,  nor 
ever  drunk  afterwards. 

"Dipsomania  is  sometimes  the  product  and  sometimes  the 
cause  of  drinking,  and  is   an   ungovernable   and  remitting 


19 

craving  for  drink  withont  any  reference  to  externals.  It  is 
almost  always  accompanied  by  a  change  of  character  in  the 
direction  of  degradation  ;  a  loss  of  the  sense  of  duty,  of  hon- 
or, of  affection,  of  truth  ;  *  *  it  occurs  sometimes  after  fever, 
hemorrhage,  mental  shock,  the  commotion  in  the  system 
which  attends  the  establishment  of  puberty,  or  the  arrival  of 
the  climacteric  period." 

Dr.  White  says  :  "  Habitual  drunkards  often  desire  to  be 
cured.  1  know  a  man  who  has  had  the  delirium  tremens  several 
times,  who  knows  what  is  Defore  him,  who  seems  perfectly 
rational,  but  declares  that  he  cannot  restrain  the  cravings  for 
drink."  Dr.  White  thinks  that,  as  a  rule,  habitual  drunk- 
ards desire  to  be  cured  of  drinking  :  "They  make  ineffectual 
efforts  to  abandon  their  drink,  but  the  craving  comes  on 
which  they  cannot  resist,  and  they  do  not  resist." 

Dr.  David  Skae,  Royal  Edinburgh  Asylum,  says :  "  Dip- 
somaniacs lose  all  control  over  themselves,  and  drink  to  any 
extent  possible.  If  they  cannot  get  spirits,  they  will  drink 
hail  wash  or  anything  stimulating.  These  cases  are  mostly 
hereditary.  They  are  often  caused  by  disease,  by  blows  on 
the  head,  sometimes  by  hemorrhage,  the  loss  of  large  quan- 
tities of  blood,  sometimes  by  disease  of  the  brain.  This  is 
really  a  disease,  and  not  a  mere  case  of  drunkenness." 

To  these  extracts  I  might  add  others  from  a  pamphlet 
published  this  year  by  S.  S.  Alford,  Esq.,  F.  E.  C.  S.,  Hon- 
orary Secretary  to  the  'Society  for  Promoting  Legislation 
for  the  Control  of  Habitual  drunkards ;'  of  which  the  Kight 
Hon.  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  K.  G.,  is  the  President,  and 
having  for  Vice-Presidents  the  Duke  of  Westminster,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  York,  the  Lord  Bishops  of 
Salisbury,  Ripon,  Llandaff,  Winchester,  &c.,  and  a  long  list 
of  other  gentlemen  of  high  position  and  rank,  and  an  Exec- 
utive Committee  of  gentlemen  of  means  in  the  legal  and 
medical  professions,  magistrates  and  others.  The  existence 
of  such  a  Society,  whose  Honorary  Secretary  reads,  prints 


20 

and  pnblislies  a  tractate  on  Dipsomania,  is  sufficient  evidence 
that  they  agree  as  to  the  theory  of  Disease. 

I  will  summon  but  one  or  two  other  witnesses,  whose  evi- 
dence will  be  very  brief. 

Dr.  Elam,  a  recent  and  interesting  writer  on  'Natural 
Heritasre,'  has  these  remarks  :  "  Under  the  law  of  uniform 
transmission,  we  observe  children  inheriting  not  only  the 
general  form  and  appearance  of  their  parents,  but  also  their 
mental  and  moral  constitutions ;  not  only  in  their  original 
and  essential  characters,  but  in  their  acquired  habits  of  life, 
of  intellect,  of  virtue,  or  of  vice,  for  which  they  have  been  re- 
markable." Again:  ^^ Inherent  intellectual  or  moral  quali- 
ties may  not  always  be  transmitted;  but  an  acquired  and  ha- 
bitual vice  will  rarely  fail  to  leave  its  trace  upon  one  or  more 
of  the  offspring,  either  in  its  original  form  or  one  closely  al- 
lied. The  habit  of  the  parent  becomes  the  all  but  irresistible 
instinct  of  the  child.  *  *  •  The  organic  tendency  is  excited 
to  the  uttermost,  and  the  power  of  the  will  and  conscience  is 
proportionately  weakened." 

If  these  things  be  so,  we  surely  have  a  sufficient  reason 
for  the  very  natural  question  :  "K  the  habitual  use  of  alcohol 
is  the  exciting  cause  of  a  disease  so  terrible  and  so  far-reach- 
ing in  its  effects,  why  is  its  use  so  common  V  To  this  we 
may  reply  : — 

First — The  Social  Customs  of  the  day  and  country.  Many 
an  inebriate  has  become  so,  simply  because  he  desired  to  be 
courteous,  and  felt  that  to  refuse  the  refreshment,  which  it 
would  be  held  inhospitable  in  his  host  or  friend  not  to  offer, 
would  be  impolite.  Now  it  is  the  well-known,  prominent 
and  peculiar  property  of  alcohol,  in  whatever  quantities,  form 
or  admixture,  to  beget,  in  the  great  majority  of  men  who 
partake  of  it,  a  desire  for  its  repeated  use. 

It  is  doubtless  owing  to  this  peculiar  quality  and  to  another 
fact,  that  not  only  its  repeated  use,  but  its  use  in  increasing 
quantities  is  necessary  in  order  to  its  special  effects,  that  the 


21 

habit  of  using  it  to  intoxication  is,  sooner  or  later,  formed, 
and  the  man  becomes  an  inebriate. 

This  habit  however,  in  the  stage  we  are  now  considering^ 
is  not  uncontrollable  by  the  subject  of  it.  He  has  not  yet 
lost  the  power  of  restraint  over  himself,  nor  is  he  necessarily 
incapable  of  understanding  its  debasing  and  destructive  na- 
ture, or  the  cogency  of  the  reasons,  why  he  should  abandon 
it,  but  prefers  to  indulge  his  appetite.  He  knowingly  ex- 
poses himself  to  temptation  and  the  danger  attendant  upon 
indulgence.  Use  begets  habit,  and  he  becomes  an  inebriate  ; 
and  in  liim  Inebriety  is  a  Vice.  But  this  vicious  habit  thus 
engendered,  if  persisted  in,  sooner  or  later  developes  the  full 
specific  effects  of  the  poisonous  draft ;  and  signally,  and  in  a 
degree  and  order,  and  with  a  rapidity  modified  by  the  con- 
stitutional tendencies  of  the  subject,  it  aifects  the  great  nerv- 
ous centers,  deranging  their  nutrition,  destroying  their  nor- 
mal and  healthy  functions,  and,  if  not  arrested,  ultimately 
engendering  in  them  organic  and  fatal  disorder.  This  man 
is  an  inebriate  and  his  Inebriety  is  a  Disease.  He  is  no 
longer  capable  of  sound  reasoning.  He  has  become  insensi- 
ble to  the  appeals  of  duty  and  affection,  to  the  claims  of  his 
family,  his  fellow-men,  his  own  welfare,  or  his  duty  to  his 
Maker.  Or  if,  in  some  more  rational  interval — his  con- 
science, somewhat  dpnarcotized,  awakes  to  reproach  him — 
he  weeps  and  prays  and  resolves,  and  falls  before  the  first 
temptation  and  yields  to  the  terrible,  unendurable  craving 
for  the  poisonous  beverage,  helpless,  hopeless,  (so  far  as  his 
own  power  is  concerned,)  a  "Dipsomaniac,"  most  appropri- 
ately so  called. 

This  is,  perhaps,  the  most  common  mode  of  the  approach 
and  development  of  this  disease  among  men  of  ordinary 
mental  caliber,  culture  and  sound  condition.  These  persons 
have  ruined  themselves,  they  have  been  their  own  destroyers- 

But  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  manner  in  which  inebri- 
ety makes  its  approach  or  runs  its  course.  Nor  is  it  the  only 
form  which  it  assumes.     Another  phase  of  the  affection  is  to 


22 


be  recognized  and  has  been  distinguished  as  'Mania  a  Potd".' 
This  is  a  kind  of  prolonged  and  modified  delirium  tremens, 
from  wliich  it  differs  in  the  length  of  its  continuance  and  the 
comparative  mildness  of  its  symptoms,  lasting,  under  appro- 
priate treatment,  five,  six  or  eight  weeks,  whereas  delirium 
tremens  is  recovered  from  in  as  many  days.  It  is,  in  fact,  a 
genuine  mania,  always  characterized  by  the  same  sort  of  de- 
lusions as  are  present  in  delirium  tremens,  viz :  morbid  sus- 
picions, alarm  and  ideas  of  persecution,  restlessness  and  agi- 
tation. It  is  generally  due  to  repeated  attacks  of  delirium 
tremens,  and  is  followed  by  mental  depression  and  stupidity, 
the  indications  of  the  failure  of  brain  power. 

Another  form  is  that  which  has  been  denominated  'The 
Mania  of  Suspicion.'  The  patient  talks  rationally  on  gen- 
eral subjects,  but  has  a  furtive  manner,  believes  that  he  is 
persecuted  ;  that  some  persons  are  conspiring  against  him  ;  or 
that  the  ground  is  undermined  ;  or  that  electricity  is  injuring 
his  health.  These  delusions  may  be  latent,  yet  may  become 
so  urgent  as  to  goad  the  victim  to  attempts  at  suicide,  or  even 
homicide. 

Still  another  form  is  the  '  Chronic  Alcoholism '  of  Marcet, 
or  'Alcoholic  Dementia,'  the  symptoms  of  which  are  failure 
of  memory  and  of  judgment,  with  paralysis  and  other  symp- 
toms, the  tendency  being  not  to  recover^j  but  to  a  fatal  issue. 

These  diversities  of  the  alcoholic  disease  may  be  and  often 
are  induced  in  persons,  not  by  nature  or  original  constitution 
predisposed  to  habitual  drunkenness. 

But  beside  tliese  there  is  a  class  in  every  community  of 
which  we  have  before  spoken,  how  numerous  it  is  not 
easy  to  say,  the  inherited  mobility  of  whose  nervous  organ- 
ization 'predisposes  them  to  fall  into  this  diseased  condition 
with  an  almost  positive  certainty.  "It  is  a  fact,"  says  a 
recent  writer,  "that  drunkenness  or  dipsomania  is  n physical 
disease,  depending  on  some  molecular  change  in  the  nerve 
tissue,  the  direct  effect  of  alcoholic  poisoning ;  and  the  'gem 


23 


mules'  of  this  tissue,  when  transmitted,  become  active  factors 
in  the  formation  of  character."''*  "It  is  important,"  sayS 
another  writer,  "to  keep  in  view  that  the  person  afflicted 
with  tendency  to  drunkenness  obeys  a  law  of  his  members 
more  potent  than  his  will."t 

Heredity,  then,  is  another  fruitful  cause  why  the  drinking 
habit  continues  amid  such  abundant  evidence  of  its  terrible 
results. 

In  the  presence  of  these  facts  and  statements,  coming  to 
us  from  varied  and  most  reliable  sources,  what  appalling  di- 
mensions does  our  subject  assume  ?  Well  might  Dr.  R., 
in  view  of  them,  say :  "  The  solemnest  fact  of  all  bear- 
ing upon  these  mental  aberrations  produced  by  alcohol,  and 
upon  the  physical  not  less  than  upon  the  mental,  is  that  the 
mischief  inflicted  on  man  by  his  own  act  and  deed  cannot 
fail  to  be  transferred  (transmitted  were  the  better  word)  to 
those  vvho  descend  from  him,  and  who  are  thus  irresponsibly 
afflicted.  Amongst  the  inscrutable  designs  of  nature  none 
is  more  manifest  than  this,  that  physical  vice,  like  physical 
vu'tue,  descends  in  line.  It  is,  I  say,  a  solemn  reflection  for 
every  man  and  woman  that  whatsoever  we  do  to  ourselves, 
so  as  to  modify  our  own  physical  conformation  and  mental 
type  for  good  or  evil,  is  passed  on  to  generations  that  are  yet 
to  be.  Not  one  of  the  transmitted  wrongs,  physical  or  men- 
tal, is  more  certainly  passed  on  to  those  yet  unborn  than  the 
wrongs  that  are  inflicted  by  alcohol.  We,  therefore,  who 
live  to  reform  the  present  age  in  this  respect,  are  stretching 
forth  our  powers  to  the  next,  to  purify  it,  to  beautify  it,  and 
to  lead  it  toward  that  millenial  happiness  and  blessedness 
which,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  shall  visit  this  earth,  making 
it,  under  increasing  light  and  knowledge,  a  garden  of  human 
delight,  a  'paradise  regained.'  " 

Another  Cause  why  drinking  habits  prevail  is  found  in  the 
Ignorance  or  Scepticism  of  the  masses  of  the  people.     Kot- 

*  Hamilton.  t  Dodge,  quoted  by  Hamilton. 


24 


withstanding  the  abundant  testimony  on  these  points,  neither 
the  majority  of  the  medical  profession,  nor  of  the  ministers  of 
religion,  nor  of  the  public  have  hitherto  accepted  these  truths, 
nor  regulated  their  conduct  in  accordance  with  them. 

This  ignorance  must  be  dispelled.  This  scepticism  over- 
come.* 

The  experience  of  man  in  all  ages  is  that,  when  the  con- 
victions of  the  intellect  are  at  variance  with  his  habits,  desires 
and  appetites,  he  requires  "line  upon  line  and  precept  upon 
precept,"  to  move  and  keep  him  in  the  right  path.  In  these 
views  I  find  mj  apology  for  reiterating  as  I  have  done  this 
evening  facts  and  principles  so  often  and  so  ably  stated  and 
demonstrated  by  others. 

And  just  here,  it  seems  to  me,  comes  into  strong  rehef 
that  function  of  this  Association  set  forth  -vvith  great  direct- 
ness in  the  3d  section  of  the  Plan  of  Organization,  in  these 
words  :  "Its  object  shall  be  to  study  the  disease  of  Inebriety 
*  ■*  *  and  to  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  cooperative  public 
sentiment  and  legislation."  This  is  a  vast  field  into  which 
we  have  entered,  and  in  which  we  may  hope  to  reap  the  re- 
ward of  true  laborers  ;  which,  on  high  authority,  we  learn  is 
apportioned  in  accordance  with  their  sincere  purposes  and 
persevering  efforts  rather  than  with  their  success. 

Hitherto  we  have  confined  our  remarks  to  the  effects  of 
alcoholic  poisoning  upon  Individuals  and  Families.  Its 
wider  influence  on  National  Character  and  Constitution  re- 
main for  brief  consideration. 

A  work  just  published  has  traced  the  destructive  effects  of 
intemperance   and    its    consequent   pauperism,   disease  and 

*  We  do  not  ignore  the  Temperance  movements  of  the  last  few  months  in 
Western  and  Central  Xew  York,  and  in  other  portions  of  the  countrj".  Much 
good  has  been  accomplished,  and  yet,  if  we  may  predict  the  future  from  the 
experience  of  the  past,  we  must  apprehend  a  reaction  that  will  somewhat 
check  the  movement  in  the  direction  of  reform.  The  conviction  which  we 
desire  to  establish  in  the  minds  of  the  influential  and  instructed  portion  of 
he  community  will,  we  believe,  produce  more  PEEMAifENT  and  progees- 
sivE  results. 


25 


crime,  in  a  community  of  several  hundred  persons- — it  being 
a  detailed  statement  of  facts, — results,  known  in  a  general 
way  before — and  exhibiting  these  effects  on  a  sviall  and 
isolated  community.  But  similar  results  of  habitual  intem- 
perance on  national  health  and  morals  are  not  unknown. 
The  chief  illustration  of  this  is  found  in  Sweden ;  with  which, 
through  the  writings  of  Dr.  Magnus  Huss,  we  are  familiar. 
He  informs  us  that  Dr.  Hagstrom,  in  1785,  appealed  in  an 
energetic  manner  to  his  fellow  citizens  to  check  this  vice, 
"which  was  not  only  an  outrage  on  religion  and  morals,  but 
which  seriously  threatened  future  generations.  Since  that 
time  many  voices  have  been  raised  to  the  same  end." 

Dr.  Huss  does  not  hesitate  to  say — "  Tilings  have  come  to 
such  a  point  that,  if  some  energetic  means  are  not  adopted 
*  *  *  the  Swedish  nation  is  menaced  with  incalculable 
evil.  The  danger  is  not  future  *  *  *  it  is  a  present 
evil  *  *  *  no  measm-es  can  be  too  strong  !  It  is  bet- 
ter to  save  at  any  price  than  to  have  to  say — It  is  too  late." 
Dr.  Huss  also  states  that  "one  million  and  a  half  of  per- 
sons, being  about  half  the  population  of  Sweden,  annually 
consume  from  140  to  175  pints  of  brandy  or  other  spirits 
each."  He  also  alleges,  positively,  "that  the  Swedes,  as  a 
nation,  have  deteriorated  in  stature  and  physical  strength ; 
new  diseases  have  appeared,  and  old  ones  have  increased 
fearfully  in  numbers  and  in  intensity." 

The  chief  new  disease  is  "  Epidemic  Chronic  Gastritis." 
"Scrofulous  affections"  abound;  heritage  also  plays  its 
part,  and  children  of  twelve,  ten,  or  even  eight  years  evince 
the  fatal  predilection." 

The  average  dm-ation  of  life  in  those  parts  of  the  country 
where  the  evil  is  most  rife  is  much  shortened,  and  suicides 
and  crime  are  greatly  on  the  increase.  But  Sweden  is  not 
alone  in  this  condition.  The  author  of  a  work  on  "Punish- 
ment and  Prevention  of  Crime"  regards  drinking  "to  be 
the  cause  of  at  least  two-thirds  of  all  crime  and  pauperism 


26 

in  England;"  and  in  thi«  opinion  he  is  unanimouslj  sup- 
ported bj  all  who  have  the  means  of  knowing  the  facts. 

Nor  is  our  own  country  any  exception.  The  evil  is  no 
less  amongst  us.  Reliable  statistics  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  two-thirds  of  our  pauperism,  disease  and  crime  have 
their  origin  in  this  prolific  source.  In  the  endeavor  to  form 
some  proper  estimate  of  the  far-reaching  influences  of  this 
agent,  we  must  not  forget  how  nearly  the  complicated  and 
all-important  questions  of  the  prevention  and  punishment  of 
crime  and  of  individual  and  social  responsibility  are  related 
to  this  subject.  They  have  already  attracted  the  attention 
of  students  of  medico-legal  science,  which  is  doubtless  des- 
tined to  be  modified  in  the  future  by  the  study  of  tliem. 
Moreover,  in  this  country,  inebriety  has  already  passed  into 
the  legislation  of  numerous  States,  and  the  duty  of  legisla- 
tors in  reference  to  it  excites  increasing  attention.  Nor 
lias  the  annual  squandering  of  six  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars ($600,000,000)— with  its  harvest  of  want  and  woe,  and 
sixty  thousand  deaths — escaped  the  notice  of  statesmen. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  of  our  Congress,  at  its 
last  session,  an  elaborate  bill  was  introduced  by  a  very  prom- 
inent and  influential  member,  by  the  provisions  of  which  he 
hoped  to  greatly  diminish  these  evils. 

In  Great  Britain  there  has  been,  and  now  exists,  with  a 
quickened  activity,  an  influential  association  for  promoting 
legislation  for  the  "  Control  of  Habitual  Drunkards," — legis- 
lation for  the  aid  of  institutions  based  upon  the  specific  views 
and  dogmas  upon  which  om-  American  asylums  are  founded. 

In  Australia  the  colonial  government  has  already  enacted 
such  laws,  and  the  Home  parliament  has  sanctioned  the 
action. 

In  France  the  second  imml)er  of  "La  Temperance"  has 
made  its  appearance,  and  gives  evidence  tliat  it  will  do  good 
work  in  the  cause. 

There  are  indications  that  the  minds  of  the  Medical  Pro- 


27 

fession  are  taking  tbe  true  directiou,  and  that,  relinquishing 
the  errors  of  the  past,  many  of  them  are  ranking  themselves 
on  the  right  side. 

The  Church  is  awaking  to  the  moral  bearing  of  these 
questions.  Witness  the  position  of  the  Bishop  and  Clergy 
of  Central  I^ew  York,  listening  with  respectful  attention  and 
approval  to  the  teachings  of  our  associate,  Dr.  Wey  ! 

A  few  days  since,  in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  there  was  a  grand 

demonstration,  sanctioned  and  led  by  the  bishop  and  priests 

of  the  Roman  church,  which,  if  I  am  not  in  error,  has  no 

precedent  in  the  histor}^  of  this  movement  in  this  country. 

The  vast  influence  thus  exerted  we  can  hardly  estimate.     In 

the  same  city,  a  few  days  since,  the  pastor  of  a  large  and 

influential  Protestant  church  made  the  remarks  which  I  read 

from  the  printed  report  of  a  morning  journal : 

In  England,  where  the  evil  is  even  more  marked  than  with  us,  the  Es- 
tablished church,  so  long  indifferent  to  the  danger,  has  begun  to  arm  herself 
for  the  conflict.  The  clergy  are  manifesting  a  zeal  never  before  seen. 
Canon  Duckworth,  one  of  the  royal  chaplains,  and  Canon  Farrar,  among 
the  most  brilliant  of  English  writers,  have  spoken  decidedly  in  favor  of  to- 
tal abstinence.  For  men  brought  up  as  they  have  been,  holding  the  posi- 
tions to  which  the}^  have  been  raised  by  royal  favor,  to  take  this  stand 
requires  an  amount  of  moral  heroism  which  unfortunately  but  few  chiis- 
tians  possess.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  great  university  of  Oxford  had  a 
temperance  sermon  been  delivered  from  its  pulpit,  till  Canon  Farrar  preach- 
ed there  a  few  months  ago.  When  the  Church  of  England  is  zealous  on 
the  subject  of  temperance,  we  may  know  that  the  evil  is  of  gigantic  pro- 
portions. " 

In  June  last,  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch) 
Church  in  America  passed  stringent  resolutions  condemning 
the  use  or  sale  by  its  members  of  alcoholic  drinks. 

Surely,  in  all  these  movements,  we  may  find  cause  for  the 
hope  that  Remedies  adequate  to  the  removal  of  this  over- 
shadowing calamity  will  become  universally  known  and  ap 
plied.  That  this  Association  has  already  done  much  to 
disseminate  the  knowledge  of  its  vastness,  and  of  the  meth- 
ods of  its  prevention  and  its  cure,  we  need  not  doubt.  We 
may  be  but  one  of  the  forces  at  work  in  this  cause,  l:)ut  we 


28 


are  far  from  being  an  unimportant  one.  The  seed  we  sow 
is  springing  up,  and  must  in  due  time  bear  an  abundant  har- 
vest. May  we  not.  tlien,  without  the  appearance  of  indeco- 
rous self-assertion,  claim  to  hold  the  place — not  of  "advanc- 
ed students"  only,  but  also  of  instructors  to  those  who  truly 
desire  to  be  informed  on  these  engrossing  themes  ;  and  go 
on  with  our  appropriate  work  with  renewed  diligence,  confi- 
dence and  hope  I  As  certainly  as  the  "  good  days  we  look 
for  "  shall  irradiate  the  earth,  so  certainly  shall  this  stupen- 
dous obstacle  to  their  advent  be  taken  away ;  for  the  era  of 
universal  peace  and  purity  can  never  visit  a  race  debased 
and  embruited  by  this  prolific  source  of  moral  and  physical 
degradation. 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
DATE  DUE 


This  b'^"!'  '"  -'"- 
expiratic 
provided 
ment  wit 


Demco.  Inc.  38-293 


C28(lt4t)MtOO 


Mason 

Inebriety  a  disease. 


RC565 

M38 
1878 


